With cyber-crime on the rise, it has become essential for businesses to effectively and safely dispose of their IT assets. These days, hackers will pounce on the slightest sign of weakness and redundant IT assets are one of the easiest ways hackers can obtain sensitive information. There are a variety of reasons why it is crucial that every business recycles their computer components effectively, some of these reasons are mentioned below:

• Software harvesting
• Asset protection
• Asset tracking
• IT equipment remarketing or sale
• Regulatory compliance
• Sustainability reporting
• Data protection

The list given above offers just a glimpse into the array of different reasons why every business has to effectively dispose of their IT assets after a thorough data cleansing. Due to the complexity involved in effectively wiping an IT asset, only a licensed professional has the tools and skills to completely wipe data in a computer component. Generally, the best IT asset disposal companies follow a similar process. This process is as follows:

1. Asset is Collected At The Clients’ Convenience

The very first step that every IT disposal company will follow is picking up the IT assets from their client’s site. Once the asset has been picked up the data is recorded and is registered into an asset data base in order to make sure that each unit can be tracked.

2. Assets Are Separated

Once the assets have been picked up, the company will then segregate each asset according to the amount of data present in each unit. Once they have been segregated according to the level of data, the units are then stored securely until their market value has been assessed.

3. Market Value is Assessed

Every asset has a market value, even the ones that cannot be refurbished, as they can be used to source scrap processing. The IT disposal company will scrutinise the assets from every aspect and will determine whether the unit can be refurbished and sold in the market. Each units’ data is securely erased before these assets are resold in the market.

4. Refurbished Assets

Assets that are salvageable are categorised as refurbished assets. These units are first completely wiped and factory restored before being made available for the user to sell on the market. The market value of the asset depends on the model and the overall condition of the asset, in some cases the unit might even be donated for charity purposes.

5. Disposable Assets

Finally all of the assets that cannot be resold in the market due to their condition are categorized as disposable assets. These assets are not suitable for remarketing and all of the assets’ markings are removed before the units are disposed of effectively. In most cases, the IT disposal company will physically destroy the storage devices using an HDD shredding process. All of the remaining assets are restored back to their constituent parts and then are effectively disposed of.

To guarantee safe and secure data handling, it is essential to choose an IT disposal company such as Absolute IT. To learn more about our data cleansing and IT asset disposal services, simply call 01332 371 989 to get in touch with one of our representatives!